MDD Standard 1: Contextual Factors

Guido Ignacio Riquelme Ponce.

PP VII.
Miss Astrid Guerra.

Institution and classroom description.

Montaner School is a private subsidized schools located in Hualpen, 8th
region, Chile. The socio-economic context in which the school is placed is medium
status. The existence of delinquency and other risk factors do not seem to impact on
the school.
The school has 900 students approximately, and they are distributed into 24
grades from pre-school to 4th Medio. There are 26 teachers in the staff. Being two of
them English teachers. One of them works with students from 1 st to 6th grade, and
the other works with students from 7th grade to 4th Medio. The school building is
considerably new and modern.
The institution also has plenty of activities that involve not only students but
also their parents, for instance, sport clubs such as basketball, handball and
cheerleaders; also cultural development clubs (chorus, folklore for parents) and
intellectual clubs (ICTs, advanced English club), among others.
The classrooms, in terms of structure and size, are very similar with each
other. The school was built in a squared O shape so all classrooms receive natural
light. On each classroom there are approximately 40 tables and 40 chairs, they
arranged in 3 rows, so every student has a classmate next to them. Also, the
teachers chair and desk is usually placed on the opposite corner of the classroom
door. The arrangement of the classroom changes if it is needed, for instance when
students work in groups. Exist some elements in the classroom that should be taken
into consideration since they could affect the normal development of the class, for
example, every classroom has windows to the playground and other windows to the
corridor, people walking in the corridor could distract students.

Students descriptions.
On each grade the amount of male and female students is very similar. On
the
grade the average age is 14 years, and on the 10th grade the average age is
15. Most of the students belong to a medium socio-economic status. Also the school
vulnerability indicator is 60%. Most of the students belonging to these grades have
been studying in the institution for an extended period of time, so they very close
with each other and very respectful with every teacher.
9th

Most of the students are Chilean, just in one of the grades (9th) previously
mentioned a student is foreigner, she is from Colombia. One student from the 10th
grade presents special educational needs, this student works near the teacher so
the teacher can assess the student constantly.
Even though this school is not related with any specific religion, the students
have a religion subject. In terms of English language teaching, the students from 1 st
to 8th grade have 3 hours of English per week. 9th and 10th grades have 4 hours per
week. Finally 3rd and 4th Medio students have 3 hours per week, preparation
subjects, also in 3rd Medio they have to choose a study plan.
Being this week my second week working with the students, I have not seen
the tests taking process yet, I witnessed the oral presentation of one the grades
(10th). But asking the teacher how the students are evaluated I got to know that the
students are evaluated with written tests, also with oral presentations

Teaching and learning relevant factors analysis.

First, during these two weeks I have not witnessed a formal lecture. So the
teacher role while giving the lecture cannot be analyzed. What can be analyzed is
the teacher role while the students work in groups. The students are in charge of
constructing their own presentation while the teacher monitors their work.
Second, the students seem to know how to work on their own, and work
properly, talking during the class about what they are doing and what are they going
to do, also they use the class time to solve doubts. They work autonomously.
Third, on both grades (9th and 10th) a written test was already applied, and the
result on both grades were acceptable, having minimal problems with some
structures that are easily confusing for a non-native speaker.
Fourth, the teacher uses a rewarding system in which he give points to
students if they work in class, and the students may use these points when the have
a written test in order to improve their mark. No matter how many point do you have
the maximum amount of point that each student can use is five points per test.
Reflections.
Even though during the observation process no formal lecture was given, the
role of the teacher, during the students preparation for their oral presentation, was
assessor, observer and organizer. Yet, it is important to identify which role the
teacher take when giving a lecture.
Also, the result of the written test previously mentioned was acceptable, it is
essential to know how those minimal mistakes are going to be fixed. Is there going
to be a special lesson to cover those mistakes?